Tech Education; Baidu; Elon Musk; Online Hate Speech; Cisco

Today’s Tech Sightings:

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, says evidence shows that technology is not making children smarter. In a report published Tuesday, OECD education director, Andreas Schleicher, said moderate computer use at school produces better learning results than with children who rarely use computers. But those who use computers very frequently produce far worse learning outcomes, even after accounting for social and demographic variables.

China’s Internet giant, Baidu, plans to build the country’s largest online education platform for Uyghur, Tibetan, Kazakh, Mongolian and other minority languages. The company’s 4,000 volunteer translators are already working on the project to provide material for homework, teachers’ notes and presentations for primary and middle school kids and their teachers.

Billionaire Elon Musk is planning to launch a fleet of low-orbiting satellites to provide free, global satellite Internet system. If all goes according to plan, the project will provide Internet connectivity from space within five years.

Germany and Facebook will be working together to combat online hate speech against Europe’s refugees. German politicians and celebrities have expressed concern about increasing anti-foreigner comments on Facebook and other social media platforms in Germany amid an influx of refugees.

Researchers from Mandiant found that hackers have been planting malware called SYNful Knock in Cisco routers that replaces the official firmware, giving attackers backdoor access to affected devices. The malware has been detected on business routers in four countries.

Bandura Games CEO Justin Hefter is looking to make a difference. His company, created to promote world peace, was founded by a Jew, a Christian, and a Muslim. Hefter hopes to have people from different cultures play games with each other. Bandura is now looking to fund its first endless runner mobile game, RunZoo.

Aida Akl is a journalist working on VOA's English Webdesk. She has written on a wide range of topics, although her more recent contributions have focused on technology. She has covered both domestic and international events since the mid-1980s as a VOA reporter and international broadcaster.